1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable shower apparatus, more particularly to hand held gravity impelled portable handheld shower for outdoor use, or indoor use where a conventional shower is not accessible.
2. Prior Art
People have utilized many methods to take showers using portable devices. These devices have included use of cups, bowls, or buckets to douse the user; use of water filled hand held gardening can showers held above the head of the user, either by hand or suspended from a device above the user wherewith a rope is used to angle the gardening can to allow water to flow through the shower head; use of a water filled can hung from devices above the head of the user, wherein the can bottom holes punched therein, or a can includes a top with holes therein, a rope is used to angle the can to allow water to flow. Modern devices include solar showers, inflatable container showers, battery operated showers, and pump operated showers.
The main problem with the above mentioned portable showers is the lack of control over the volume and direction of water flow. While the user can direct where to pour the water, hydraulics dictates that the water will coalesce and form a stream, thereby requiring a larger amount of water than is necessary for a beneficial operation of the portable shower, for example, when washing.
A shower formed by a garden can, and a can with holes therein require including the heavily laden object above the user while using it. In addition, with both instances, a suspending device and rope are generally required. Not all users have these devices available, and the suspension devices reduce the portability of the showering device.
Portable solar showers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,793 issued to Hall, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,663 issued to Haller et al, describe a large bag that can be filled with fluid, for example, water, with an attached shower head. The bag is usually dark or colored on one side, and transparent on the opposing side, such that the water filled bag is warmed by the sun when suspended or laid flat revealing the transparent side to the solar radiation. Due to the weight of the volume of water, these showers require some mechanical equipment suspended above the user which presents an operational problem such that the user is not physically able to simultaneously hold the solar shower above them while using it.
Portable showers, U.S. Des. Pat. No. 337,815 issued to such as Yoshida, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,538 issued to Chapman, are showers that are attached to small electrically operated pumps. The pump draws the water from a free standing vessel and forces it through the showerhead. These pumps require electrical means, such as batteries, and without an electrical source, the shower is non-functional.
Another form of a portable shower is one where a pressure vessel is filled with water and a manual pump or a CO2 device is used to create pressure as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,520 issued to such as Kenney, forcing the water from the container through a hose and out of a showerhead. This method allows the user to set the container on the ground or on a support vessel while directing the flow of water.
Mist sprayer, US Patent Application No. 2012/0267400 filed by Mohr, and US Patent Application No. 2012/0211528 filed by Greeley are designed to fit on bottles, but lack the ability to provide a continuous stream of liquid unless the finger pump is continuously operated.
There are several inventions in the prior art that include a shower head coupled to a bottle. For example, a laundry ironing shower which provides a device to sprinkle water onto clothing, or linens, or other apparel, prior to ironing such that the clothing, or linens, or apparel are damp prior to ironing the articles. This item requires the user to shake the bottle, forcing water out of the shower head. Without shaking, the water will not leave the bottle in a continuous stream as there is no mechanism in place to allow for the replacement of water with air, hence a vacuum is created within the bottle. The volume of water leaving this item is minimal and useful only for dampening clothes prior to using a hot iron on them.
The “Universal Shower Diffuser Saver” (last viewed on Jan. 27, 2013 at: http://www.likecool.com/Universal_Shower_Diffuser_Saver--Outdoor--Home.html includes a plastic showerhead that screws onto a conventional plastic screw top water or soda bottle. This item requires the user to hold the bottle with attached showerhead above the area being wetted, and to squeeze the bottle, thereby forcing the water out of the shower and onto the user. Without squeezing, the water will not leave the bottle in a continuous stream as there is no mechanism in place to allow for the replacement of water with air, hence a vacuum is created within the bottle. This method also leads to the destruction of the bottle over time through the constant external and internal pressures applied by squeezing it.
Shower Kit for Dromedary® and DromLite™ water storage at http://casanovasadventures.com/catalog/water/p348.htm last viewed on Jan. 27, 2013). This device is designed having tubing to deliver water and having a cap exclusively for water bladders, and is not designed to interfit to conventional water bottles or soda bottles.
HotJugz portable shower is a spray pump with an attached shower nozzle at www.hotjugz.com last viewed on Jan. 27, 2013.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,024 issued to Conrad, discloses an adapter for stabilizing a funnel in the opening of a container consists of a body of metal or plastic which contains a central bore internally threaded at each end for accepting the threaded stem of a funnel. The body is externally threaded on one end to engage internally threaded container openings and at the other end contains an internally threaded cavity to engage externally threaded container openings. In this invention, the externally threaded end is not coaxial with the opposing open end, thus no passageway is provided for the flow of fluid or water therethrough.
Various configurations of portable showers including structural elements having shower stalls and tubing have been disclosed in the prior art. For both manufacturers and consumers of such portable showers, their storage and transportation represent a challenging risk. Thus, generally the prior art focuses on a combination of water delivery and a stall component of portable showers, whereby there is an emphasis on creating an environment wherein a person can take a shower in privacy. These arts, while man-portable, are, by nature, large and cumbersome.
The prior art fails to show a portable shower that is transportable, easy and convenient to use and store, and economical to manufacture. In addition the prior art fails to teach a hand held portable shower that removably threadably couples to a fluid container or vessel, wherein water is expelled from the portable shower impelled by gravity and air evacuator tube.
Further, the prior art fails to show a portable shower having a variety of adapters that will allow the portable shower to be attached to a variety of fluid containers having different size openings.